An Analysis Of Little Women From The Perspective Of Initiation Story

Louisa May Alcott（1832–1888）was a famous American female writer.In 1868,a publisher suggested that she write a book about girls,and she wrote this novel Little Women,based on her girlhood memories.Little Women takes the American Civil War as its background,narrates in the form of a family diary,and is a semi-autobiographical novel about her family.This novel enjoyed a high reputation for emphasizing feminist consciousness at the time.Based on the theory of the Initiation Story,this thesis analyzes Little Women from the two aspects of character and the narrative structure of the Initiation Story.Firstly,this thesis analyzes the growth of four March sisters from the perspective of initiation mentor and initiation companion of Initiation Story.Secondly,starting from the narrative structure of Initiation Story,this thesis also analyzes the growth of the four sisters.With the help of their parents,neighbors and friends,four March sisters gradually grow from innocent girls to self-reliant women.The novel Little Women conforms to the elements of an initiation story.It follows the characters and basic narrative structure of the Initiation Story,narrates the growing process of the four March sisters from innocence to self-cognition,and introduces the important figures and events in the growing process of the four sisters.This thesis analyzes the novel Little Women from a new perspective—Initiation Story theory,which not only shows its enduring realistic significance and literary and artistic charm,but also enables more people to know the growing process of some young women in American society at that time,which is of positive significance for the female growth in today’s era.